Sep 07, 2010
Dry Weather Impacting Mato Grosso Sugarcane Yields
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The extended dry season in Mato Grosso is also taking a toll on sugarcane produced in the state. Current, 60% of the anticipated 14.4 million tons of sugarcane production has been processed. During the last harvest season, 14.05 million tons of sugarcane was processed in Mato Grosso. According to a recent report from the State Sugar Industries (Sindalcool), if the current dry weather pattern continues until the second half of September, sugarcane losses in the state will start to mount.
Sugarcane processors in the state are using 65% of their sugarcane to produce ethanol and only 35% to produce sugar. They prefer to produce ethanol because of the high cost of transporting sugar out of the state. The ethanol produced in Mato Grosso is consumed in Mato Grosso and in the neighboring states of Rondonia, Amazonas, and Acre. Very little of the sugar produced in Mato Grosso is consumed within the state. The majority of the sugar is exported from ports in southern Brazil.
There are approximately 200,000 hectares of sugarcane production in Mato Grosso. The state is expected to produce 450,000 tons of sugar and 850 million liters of ethanol this year. Fifty two percent of the ethanol produced in the state is E100 and 48% of the ethanol is used in a mixture with gasoline. Due to the abundant supply of ethanol in the state, motorists in Mato Grosso enjoy some of the lowest ethanol prices in Brazil.